


Unexpected Occurance

by SunlightOnTheWater



Series: Pathways [11]
Category: Supernatural, The Chronicles of Riddick (2004)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Childhood Trauma, Demon Blood Addiction, Detox, Gen, POV Jo Harvelle
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-10-13
Updated: 2014-10-13
Packaged: 2018-02-20 22:38:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,301
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2445737
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SunlightOnTheWater/pseuds/SunlightOnTheWater
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Jo Harvelle has seen a lot of strange things but finding a boy in a wreckage ship was one of the most unusual.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Unexpected Occurance

_The little blonde girl bounced in the navigator's seat of the ship as her mother docked at Helion Five. The planet wasn't as sophisticated as Helion Prime but it had been home for the last couple years and it was where Dad was waiting for them. "Where is he Mommy?" the blonde demanded, rising up as far as she could in her seat to peer out of the large front window at the crowd welcoming their return._

* * *

"Buckle up Jo," her mom's voice called over the intercom system as Jo made her way down the hall. "I'm getting ready to dock up to our latest junker." Jo and her mother, Ellen, ran a salvage ship based off of Helion Five. The smallest of the planets in the Helion system had been their home since her father's tragic death when she was only six and it was home to a bustling salvage trade when not being besieged by Necromongers. Her father's family had run a thriving salvage business for years, hunting the occasional monster on the side, and her mother had taken over the business after Bill Harvelle's death.

"Give me a minute," Jo grumbled into the comm on the wall and then released the button, stumbling a bit as the ship rocked slightly. She pulled one of the docking seats down from its position in the wall and buckled the harness before hitting the comm button again. "I'm good here." 

She hit the button again and Ellen replied, "Beginning docking process now." A low hum filled the hall as the ship magnetized to the side of their current salvage. When Jo had been younger, each salvage had been an adventure. Now it was work but leaving it would mean leaving her mother and she refused to do that. Her mother was the only family she had left. "We're attached," Ellen said. "Secure crossing at docking point nine."

"Roger that," Jo replied cheerfully and unbuckled herself. Docking point nine was only down a hall and around a corner so Jo was the first one there. She suited up quickly, they never knew whether or not the artificial atmosphere inside the ship had been compromised until they were actually on board, and grabbed her kit before entering the airlock. The sooner they got this job finished the sooner she could have some true gravity time, and maybe see Uncle Rufus.

* * *

_"He'll be there sweetie," the dark haired woman replied, unbuckling her harness the instant the ship came to a full stop with a slight jerk. As soon as she was free, the woman unbuckled her daughter and picked her up. The little blonde girl giggled as her mother exited the cabin and sealed it behind her with a quick tap of a button. "Ready to see Daddy?" she asked her daughter and got an excited squeal in response._

* * *

Her first image of the ship was a body lying in a pool of blood. Jo's feet froze where she was standing and she listened carefully for any sound of movement. If the ship had been raided there was always a chance of the raiders hanging around, using the ship as a lure to draw in move victims. Nothing. A quick life scan showed that this section of the ship was devoid of lifeforms. It also showed that the internal atmosphere was still intact. "Signs of a struggle early on," Jo reported through the comm unit in her helmet to her mother. "But the scan shows no lifeforms. Internal atmosphere holding. I'm removing my helmet now and attaching headpiece."

"Clear," Ellen replied. "Stay safe sweetie." Jo nodded even though her mother couldn't see her and unsealed her helmet, removing it and leaving it behind on the floor. Like most salvagers, the Harvelles went for electronics first and then other pieces. Electronics brought in the most money followed by some rare metals and then useable parts. She made her way around the bodies towards where she guessed the engine room was located. The trail of bodies stopped her. It was as if everyone on the ship had simply dropped dead. Worry twisted in her gut and she fumbled through her kit to test for airborne poisons. The test came up negative and she breathed out a soft sigh of relief.

At thirteen, Joanna Beth Harvelle was smart as a whip and she was never one to leave a mystery untouched. She knelt next to one of the bodies, rolling it over so she could stare into empty green eyes. The only visible sign of injury was a little bit of blood that had trickled out of one nostril. "There are more bodies," she told her mother. "Lots more. No visible signs of injury or toxins in the air. Just a little bit of a bloody nose."

"I'll check one of the bodies and see what I can come up with," Ellen replied. "Keep heading for the engine room."

"Got it Mom," Jo answered and stood. She ended up in a large intersection and hesitated, studying the walls for any clues. Often enough, large ships like this had some kind of labeling so that newcomers on board or the landing crew could find everything they needed. She was hoping this ship had those same markings. No such luck. Cautiously she headed towards a hall where there were a few more dead bodies lining the walkway and hesitated. She was about to turn away and attempt a friendlier looking hall when she heard a soft sob. She recognized the sound. It was the same one she'd made when she'd found out her father was dead.

* * *

_The group that met the two Harvelle women at the docking port was surprisingly solemn. "What's going on?" Ellen asked, her expression concerned. "Rufus?"_

_"I'm sorry Ellen," came the solemn reply while the little blonde girl clinging to Ellen glanced back and forth between her adopted uncle and her mother. Her expression turned to concern as tears dripped down Ellen's face._

_"Mommy? What's going on Mommy?"_

* * *

Jo cautiously made her way down the hall, entering what appeared to be a cell block. The feeling of foreboding in her stomach began to grow. Why would a ship transferring prisoners suddenly be attacked like this? And why was there someone left alive? When she got closer to the sobbing she realized that one of the cell doors was wide open. A boy was huddled on the floor, head resting against his knees. He looked like he was about her age and his shoulders were shaking violently like he was trying to hold in any and all sounds. "Hello?" she asked cautiously and the kid's head snapped up.

Wide, tear stained hazel eyes studied her cautiously. "Who are you?" the boy demanded after a moment. "How did you get here?"

"I could ask you the same thing," Jo said, narrowing her eyes at him. The two studied one another, the boy not giving an inch. Jo recognized the gleam in his eyes from when she looked in a mirror after she'd been arguing with her mother. The hopelessness and anger battling out inside her was never fun to experience and she doubted the boy enjoyed it any more than she did. "My mother and I work wreckage," she told him and something in his pained gaze sharpened.

"You work salvage," he croaked out and Jo nodded warily. "How did you find this?"

"We were in the area," Jo replied with a shrug. "Honestly I'm not sure how Mom finds these things." He shifted uneasily but nodded at last.

"You should go. It isn't safe here."

"Why?" Jo demanded. "Do you know what happened to all these people?" 

The boy let out a dry chuckle and gave her a bleak smile in response. "I did."

* * *

_"Tell me Rufus," Ellen demanded, her voice cold._

_"Ellen, maybe now isn't the..."_

_"Tell me Rufus," Ellen growled. "Or I swear on all that's holy I'll kick your ass."_

* * *

Jo couldn't stop the startled laugh from bubbling free of her lips. "You're kidding me," she managed to force out as the kid stared at her, confused.

"No," he forced out and bowed his head, closing his eyes for a moment. When he looked up again, Jo's breath caught in her throat. His eyes were black as pitch, demon black. Jo gasped, startled, and the black faded away to guilty hazel. "You should go before you get hurt like everyone else does." The raw pain in his voice made Jo want to hug him instead of run away.

"Jo sweetie, is everything okay?" her mother asked over the comm unit.

"Mom," Jo replied, her voice shaking a little bit. "I think you need to come see this."

The boy was curled back up again by the time Ellen Harvelle joined her daughter, crying softly again. Jo relaxed some as her mother's hand gently squeezed her shoulder, reassuring her that everything would be okay. Quickly she filled her mother in on everything the boy had said, watching Ellen's face soften with sympathy. "How did you get here sweetheart?" she asked gently and the boy glanced at her with dull eyes.

"I traveled," he told her as if it were something he did every day.

"Did the people here kidnap you?" Ellen tried and his lips quirked up in a bitter smile.

"No," he said. "They took my friend. I sent her back."

"And by sent you mean..." Jo prodded.

"I sent her back," he repeated, eyes rippling black for a moment before turning back to hazel. Beside Jo, Ellen's muscles stiffened.

"Why do your eyes do that?" the blonde demanded. "And why didn't you go back with her?"

"Because I'm a monster," he told her as if that were the answer to both questions. "I just like to pretend I'm not." He let out a bitter laugh then. "My friend just finally got to see what I really am."

"Oh sweetie," Ellen said softly. "What happened?" As if being confronted by that maternal voice was all it took, words began spilling out of Sam's mouth. Jo listened silently as the story twisted around, sometimes starting in the middle and then moving backwards before reaching the end again. It was only a chunk of what had happened, Jo was sure, but it was enough to have her lunging forward to hug him. Sam stiffened, startled but the blonde girl who'd attached herself to him. Jo released him a moment later but settled down next to him, her hand resting warmly on his knee. "Do you want us to take you home?"

"I-I don't know," the boy stammered.

"If I was your friend, I'd want to talk to you," Jo told him. He studied her for a moment and she smiled at him.

"Okay," he told Ellen. "I can give you coordinates." Ellen nodded at him.

"Jo and I will finish this up quickly," Ellen told him. "Then will take you home."

"Do you want to help?" Jo asked and was startled by the boy's shy smile.

* * *

_"I went out on one of my trips," Rufus told Ellen as a six year old Jo listened intently, sensing somehow that this was an important moment. "With John Winchester. We ran into a little trouble and called Bill in. It was supposed to be an easy job, in and out, but one of the suckers was a little faster than we'd expected. It snapped Bill's neck." Ellen stiffened and Rufus bowed his head._

_"Mommy?" Jo asked, confused and uncertain. "Where's Daddy?"_

* * *

Jo watched with wide eyes as her mother approached the massive Necromonger ship. The boy had given them the codes that would allow them to approach and dock up, though the young blonde doubted that they would be greeted by anything less than an armed guard. "We're docked up," Ellen said turning to look at the boy. "Lead the way." The boy nodded and headed to the door, unsealing it and stepping into a massive room. Jo's guess had been correct; there were half a dozen armed men watching them warily. Suddenly an older girl with wild brown curls came flying down the hall despite her tight black dress. She stumbled to a stop a few feet away from the boy, hectic color rising in her tanned cheeks.

"Sam?" she asked, as if almost not daring to hope.

"Kyra?" he replied uncertainly. That was all it took to have her flying across the gap between them and hugging him tightly. Jo watched, vaguely amused, as Sam reacted exactly the same way he had to her surprise hug. The boy stiffened up and then slowly relaxed, lifting his arms cautiously to rest against her shoulders. She released him a moment later but one hand clutched at Sam's shoulder as if she were afraid he would vanish the instant she relinquished her grip.

"I thought maybe you weren't coming back," she told him. "I thought I'd ruined everything."

"I wasn't going to come back," he told her. "But someone set me straight." Their eyes both turned toward Jo and she flushed but forced herself not to squirm. Sam and Kyra stared into each other's eyes. Then Kyra released his shoulder and Sam approached Jo. "Thank you," he told her softly. "For everything." To her surprise, he leaned over then and kissed her cheek.

"Wait," Jo called after him as he walked with Kyra into the bowls of the ship. "Who are you?" He hesitated then, turning back to stare at her uncertainly.

"My name is Sam," he said at last. "Sam Winchester."

"But you can't be," Jo whispered in the moment after he was gone. "Sam Winchester's dead."

* * *

_"I'm sorry sweetie," Ellen said, her voice cracking as she turned to look at her daughter. "Really sorry, but Daddy's dead."_


End file.
